My first contribution to a new group project is this “Eldar Trader”, who appears to be a jerk.

The last line is a killer.

One of the things that I liked about Warhammer 40,000 when I first read Rogue Trader was its vast sandbox element. The various Imperial institutions, alien empires, exotic wildlife and environments in an incomprehensibly large galaxy were presented as a springboard to launch your own stories via.

As the 40k setting became more refined, in practice the game also became a little more restricted, as most players – myself included – focused on collecting armies rather than the smaller warbands, weird fauna and NPC type figures mentioned in Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader.

No matter how the setting moved and changed, the selection of oddballs on the above Citadel 1991 Blue Catalogue page lurked in the back of my head since 1991, suggesting all sorts of games set a little further from the front lines than tournament 40k.

RT601 Adventurers – RT2 Flyer, March 1988 (image from solegends.com)

I mean, just look at these guys. “Ratling Cook”, “Space Amazon”, “Eldar Trader”, “Navigator”, “Scum” (with “Space Eunuch” written on his tab)… and what the hell is an “Ex-Tech”, why isnt he a Tech any more and why doesn’t he wear a shirt? We may never know…

(image from solegends.com)

Some lament the “lost” universe that the miniatures above are remnants of, swapped for vast armies of identikit plastic space marines. I don’t. All of the characters above slot into modern 40k canon just fine. The universe is, after all a big place, its just a matter of perspective.

What the Adventurers range still does is flesh out the world either side of the endless war a little bit, like Dan Abnetts various Inquisition related titles have done. While there is certainly appeal in seeing large miniature armies clash on a macro level, stories on the fringe interest me more. Which is precisely why this range of miniatures is my favourite Citadel range ever. Well, maybe joint favourite… but definitely at pole position.

Even so, I have yet to get around to painting most of the range, which is daft. So 2017 is the year.

In order to give some sort of structure to the project Axiom from Magpie and Old Lead and Curis from Ninjabread – two hobbyists with a similar lack of painted Rogue Trader Adventurers – have agreed to provide encouragement and and peer pressure to keep our three otherwise independent Adventurer painting projects ticking over.

Part one of CYOA appeared on Magpie and Old Lead, courtesy of the metronomic Axiom. Check it out here.
Part two of CYOA appeared on Ninjabread, courtesy of the archaeological Curis. Check it out here.

Choose Your Own Adventurer pt 3: Eldar Trader

After all of my talk about catalogues and long term projects, I didn’t even know this figure existed until about five years ago as it didn’t appear in the 1991 catalogue. Being the one civilian Eldar model ever sold, I went out of my way to get one when I found out that it existed.

L’Oréal Wangst introduces his ally Ramirez to his kinsman Garnier.

Im not certain that the Eldar Trader sculpt is a repurposed fantasy figure, but it certainly looks like one. The Trader carries a holstered pistol, but beyond that he looks like a disdainful wood elf to me.

With that in mind I thought it was best to steer clear of the earthy colours that are often associated with fantasy elves and to place the model firmly in an eighties sci-fi environment, so I went with the lurid, 1980s Miami Strip neon vibe that I first used on L’Oréal Wangst.

L’Oréal and Garnier display the colours of the Wangst clan.

It worked out nicely I think. The figure looks like the sort of recurring character that would have shown up in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century back in the day… if the budget had been four times larger. I quite like the expression on the figures face: he looks haughty, proud and vain.

My next CYOA figure isn’t one that I had expected to tackle this early in the project, but I had an idea that bumped it to the top of the queue. Axiom and Curis’ submissions are due before then however and they will be worth a look.

It’s difficult to say whether it is simply a wood elf with a holster or a sci-fi figure designed by someone more comfortable and experienced sculpting fantasy elements, but it doesn’t scream “SCI-FI!” to me.

That Nurgle champ is a great fig, I wasn’t aware that you were blogging that Iong Allison.

Although I have used EBay more often than I would like to admit, I picked up most of the Adventurers via trade/sales on forums and Facebook, where prices are usually less than the often ridiculous asked for on EBay.

I pursued this range in particular though. It’s unique as far as Citadel and 40k goes.

The elf is one of the few I really want that I still haven’t bought. 🙂 Well done! Also, I think that Miami glam scheme has very much become your trademark. 😉 You have definitely made the most of him. I love the way he came out! Good to see the Wangster clan growing!

At last count, I’ve painted this guy on 4 separate occasions, and never once had I considered neon green lipstick. It’s clearly a perfect style choice – nothing says ‘haughty alien’ more than a slice of retro colour on a sneering lower lip.

It’s lovely to see him painted and ready to look down his elegant nose at lesser species.

It’s a good look for the sneering sculpt. Garnier wouldn’t look out of place on Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5 or selling something absurd while alien babes get their groove on nearby in original Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers.

Excellent work on a great figure. It is a shame that the side stories have dropped off a bit games like Inquisitor and the RPGs have tried to revive them but they have always remained fairly niche. Anyway, the neon lipstick is a great choice.

Niche perhaps, but between the Adventurers range, the 2000s Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunters ranges and the recent exploration of the Adeptus Mechanicus it has been expanded more than may be commonly realised.

If inclined, a full Imperial army with zero Astra Militarum and zero marines tgat explores the weirder, darker side of the Imperium could easily be fielded.

[…] 'Choose Your Own Adventurers' project. I urge you to check out Captain Paradox Zeeman by Curis, and Garnier Wangst, Eldar trader by cheetor. My second contribution is a shorter, nastier piece of work. And that pretty much sums up a […]